When I was young, I thought that the Grammy Awards were given in recognition of outstanding musical achievement, and for a while I found that to be true.

Then something happened, and suddenly it seemed just about anybody could win a Grammy with the right amount of sales and publicity. The Nielsen ratings of the Grammy Award Show became more important than the content and merit.

After Stevie Wonder’s justly earned Grammy streak, the “Machine” took over and the major record labels began to pump money all over the place near Grammy time.

Well last night things took a step backwards and forwards at the same time…. Herbie Hancock won the Grammy for Album of the Year! That was a step back to the days of recognizing true artistry, and a step forward from the folly of trying to increase over-all record sales by pandering to the lowest common denominator.

If you haven’t heard “River: the joni letters” CD you can go to Download.com and hear ten tracks from it.

It was a great choice that the Academy made when they chose to honor this CD, Joni Mitchell is an extraordinary artist – so is Herbie (and Wayne Shorter who provides his virtuosity throughout).

Then there is Tina Turner with her take of “Edith and the Kingpin”, one of my favorite Joni tunes. Nora Jones is also there.

Though it may be seem a small accomplishment to many, it’s a great accomplishment to me – my post “Hurt people, hurt people.” has been viewed over a thousand times! Now, I know that many blogs get that kind of traffic in a hour’s time and it took me a few weeks…. but hey, a thousand is a thousand!

Been finding some great music lately and I thought I’d share what I’ve found with you. I’ll start with a fantastic saxaphonist named J. White.

J. is from Detroit, but currently resides in Arkansas where he completed his studies at the University of Arkansas. His current project is named “Melodies From My Heart” and you can hear samples from it HERE.

This is an outstanding work from an artist I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot from in the future. J. has a heartfelt lyrical style that shines on each track. My personal favorite is “Relaxation” which reminds me of Stevie Wonder back in the “Talking Book” days. You can hear a clip from that track – and BUY the CD at CDBaby.

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I was thinking back to the old days in Detroit when the music scene was sooo vibrant, I began looking around for others who had memories of those old days and I ran across a great site full of information about things like the 20 Grand, Motown, and a lot of the smaller labels and studios back in the day. The site is called Soulful Detroit, and you can spend quite some time there remembering or learning about Detroit’s early musical days – Enjoy!

Oh, and for those of you who haven’t bought your copy of my new CD “The Late Show” – click HERE and get busy!

You can buy it directly from the manufacturer Click HERE, where it’s available to be purchased on-line with either a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover Card for only $12.00 + shipping and handling (which brings the price up to around $17.00), or you can get it locally for a flat $12.00.

Welcome to Elegant Thoughts with Elegant Changes. I’ve added a ‘Sonific’ widget to the blog where you can hear some of the music I’ve discovered over at that site (feel free to click on the play button). It’s an effort to help get new music heard – not only my own, but other interesting music that’s out there.

I often complain about how much good music is available these days that never gets heard, but wading through all that new music can take days! So I thought I’d kind of help us all out by sifting through and weeding out the bad stuff. In this short play-list you’ll find some of the things I’ve found so far – some old some new.

I hope to update this list each week so that there will be at-least ten great songs on there at any time. So, to use a phrase from an old blog of mine (and the new end phrase for this one) – brew the java, put on those sippers, and find that comfortable spot….

Had a great time last night down at the ‘Ribs & Soul Festival’ on Hart Plaza. The smells were great with so many vendors offering great ribs and other foods, and the music was ‘outta sight! I caught a band called “1 oh 1” this was the first time I’d heard them, and I was impressed. Good strong original material and some good cover stuff too.

@‘Hot Sauce’ was in the house performing at the main stage beginning at 10:30pm and they rocked the house!

(Pictures taken and copyright: Deborah P. Spencer – click on the pictures for a larger view)

This eight man powerhouse from Detroit is a phenomenon! I’ve watched them through the years and I can honestly say they have come into their own. Performing on the Tom Joyner cruise (the party with a purpose) and soon at the Tom Joyner Family Reunion celebration, they are finally getting the exposure they rightly deserve (they also have a commercial out for McDonalds). If you ever get the chance to see them live – don’t hesitate, their “Real good, feel good music” is the real deal.